Circumstances Alter Cases!
- Title:
- Circumstances Alter Cases!
- Alternate Title:
- Circumstances Alter Cases!
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896
- Date:
- 1882
- Posted Date:
- 2015-08-25
- ID Number:
- 1084.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_1084_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1870 - 1899
- Subject:
- Satirical
Pictorial
Imperialism - Measurement:
- 19 x 22, on sheet 35 x 26 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- In the summer of 1881, concerned about European intentions regarding the proposed Panama Canal, the Secretary of State sent out a "trumpet blast" based on the Monroe Doctrine. Any agreement among European states to "in effect control the political character of a highway of commerce, remote from them and near to us, forming substantially a part of our coast-line and promising to become the chief means of transportation between the Atlantic and Pacific States, would be viewed by this government with the gravest concern." (Hart 1916, 172-73). In further exchanges over the fall, the British Foreign Minister insisted that the U.S. assertion was contrary to the Clayton-Bulwar Treaty of 1850, and the Secretary responded that the Treaty had lapsed, in part by change of circumstance (Ibid. 173). In January, Lord Granville responded, "with almost insulting courtesy," that "whatever may be the view" of the "scope and bearing" of the "declarations of President Monroe and of his cabinet, in 1823, and 1824, . . . such a canal, as the waterway between two great oceans and between all Europe and Eastern Asia, is a work which concerns not merely the United States or the American Continent, but the whole civilized world." (Ibid. 174-75).
This cartoon reflects the situation at the end of January 1882. The American eagle prepares to defend the Panama Canal and the entire west coast of the Americas, from Chile to Alaska, with the Monroe Doctrine in its talons. The British lion stands aside its colonies, looking nervous, and saying "Well, I'll be blowed if that greedy Yankee Eagle hain't trying to spread himself all over Hamerica." The basket on the Lion's table reflects British sensitivity as the dominant nation in worldwide ocean carrying of goods.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- Puck Magazine, February 8, 1882.
- Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.